P gave me a "good luck" pedicure ( this might be a tradition before big events!): The big toe on my right foot is a " lucky penny" design she said :
Pre-race outfit picked out:
Saturday morning I got up had my coffee (to help out my insides) and some oatmeal w peanut butter. I got my family up and we went to my first race in over 1 year, the Volkslaufe aka "the people's race" in German.
There were a ton of people there to say the least. Where we parked (by the finish) was an easy 1 mile up hill walk. I got my packet and race number. Then walked the 1 mile back to the hubs and P for my faux fanny pack and what not's.
Headed to the starting line, the gun went off at 8:15 ( not to complain but I'm just not a fan of running anytime after 6:00 am. It's already hot and it's kinda awful! )
Pre-race lovin':
The race started in a field and we went up and around and the hubs and P caught up with us on the other side. I did run towards the back of the group because I am not fast. At one point before the gun went off the guys behind me were talking how they run 7 min miles, yeah I'm gunna need to move back more or they need to move up.
Me all smiles....little did I know:
This race was a beast. Bottom line plan and simple. Beast. You go out and run run run far far far away from anything. Then the hills. The hills aka mountains show up around mile 9, and they are not forgiving. They are awful. I had a really hard time. I struggled with a ton of negative thoughts. I was not positive for one minute. I wanted to give up over and over again. My body felt terrible. I stopped at mile 4.5 to take in fuel and then again at mile 8 thinking I needed a boost. It didn't help. Nothing helped. I drank water like it was going out of style. Every aid station which was every 2 miles I filled up my 16 oz water bottle. I also noticed that a majority of the race I had goose bumps which I just recently read was a sign of dehydration/over heating.
At about mile 9 when the hills started I found myself running with an older couple ( 71 yr old to be exact because we chatted). The wife had run the race the year before, but the husband hadn't. They were very encouraging but not obnoxious. We ran almost the rest of the race together. The husband has Parkinson's disease and his wife got him into running which has made his symptoms decrease. They were pretty incredible. I'm happy I got to run with them :)
Just about to the finish, P wanted me to stop and talk to her along the way, I told her I couldn't but would see her in a few minutes. (I thought if I'd have stopped I'd fall into the fetal position and never move again).
This was by far the hardest thing I've ever done. I was just not there mentally, Physically the hills thrashed me. It was disappointing. There was no runners high. I was angry when I was done.
Positives: no knee pain, at all! And meeting that super nice couple! See P's smiling face and being a light at the beginning and the end!
Post race was: shower, stretching, rolling, and sleeping. I took a 30 min nap while P watched a movie and ate lunch. Then we filled up her kiddie pool and I did a cold water bath from my waist down, which by the end felt amazing! Then it was pizza time and family time. I drank a ton of water because I was really truly dehydrated.
I need to do a light run this morning, because my quads are tight!
I hope everyone enjoyed their 4th of July fun!!
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